[anand_lukose]

Congratulations mate ! I absolutely love the ZL1 and how it looks, drives and sounds. Its a killer. Good that you didnt get the ZL1 1LE. I have heard its extremely firm to use as a daily. With the recent market adjustments craziness going on for hard to get models, I hope you didnt have to deal with mark ups.

As some one who has been eyeing the GM alpha platform cars for many years now, I have been really itching to get one. If I had the ability to, I would either choose either the Camaro SS 1LE (with a ZL1 after market bumper), the blackwings with 6MT or a Chevy SS 6MT.

Enjoy the many miles !

[Aditya]

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of cars have started going to our homepage reviews box. It's the ultimate stamp of trust from Team-BHP (as a platform) because lakhs of visitors every month check out reviews from there & make purchase decisions.

Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

[vj123]

Originally Posted by anand_lukose

Congratulations mate ! I absolutely love the ZL1 and how it looks, drives and sounds. Its a killer. Good that you didnt get the ZL1 1LE. I have heard its extremely firm to use as a daily. With the recent market adjustments craziness going on for hard to get models, I hope you didnt have to deal with mark ups.

Thank you. ZLE would be a perfect vehicle for someone who would be taking it to the track regularly. Also I did not pay any ADM and this dealer even honored applicable rebates without any questions (camaros had a $500 customer cash offer from GM last month). There are dealers who are not looking to gouge their customers even in this market and it just takes some effort to find one.

Originally Posted by anand_lukose

As some one who has been eyeing the GM alpha platform cars for many years now, I have been really itching to get one. If I had the ability to, I would either choose either the Camaro SS 1LE (with a ZL1 after market bumper), the blackwings with 6MT or a Chevy SS 6MT.

Looking forward to see you adding a GM Alpha vehicle to your garage as well.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

Thank you Aditya.

[AutoDowntowner]

Congratulations for having this Gorgeous Black Beast at you garage. Beautiful pics & well written post.

[vj123]

Originally Posted by absolutpowers

Not to thread crap. Here is my CT5 V Blackwing (all carbon fiber and the 6MT). I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to get one in late 2021. Plan to keep it forever!

Congrats on your 5BW and its definitely a keeper!

Originally Posted by AutoDowntowner

Congratulations for having this Gorgeous Black Beast at you garage. Beautiful pics & well written post.

Thank you.

[vj123]

There have been a few updates since the initial report.

PPF installation

Paint chipping in the fenders is a known issue with ZL1s as the extremely sticky tires are known to throw rocks onto the body and also front & rear tires stick outside the body (305mm on the front and 325mm on the rear). Two fender rock guard designs are extremely popular within the camaro community and the design doesn't look terrible. With mine being a black exterior, its almost not noticeable but i considered installing ppf to the damage prone areas as it looks cleaner.

For my M3, i installed ppf in South Carolina before driving back to Michigan and i had contacted few local installers during that time. I reached out to several of them again and some of them didnt respond as they are extremely busy during the spring of every year. I visited a few shops and most of them were pushing me to go with the regular options (full or partial front, full rockers and full fenders) so that they can use their precuts films. Since i am not sure how long i will be keeping this vehicle, i didn't want spend too much money on the ppf and just wanted to protect the critical areas.

I ended up with an installer who was only 15 minutes from my place. He had worked on several supercars and had great customer reviews as well. He was willing to do a custom job based on my request and provided a very reasonable quote. One of his upcoming appointments was cancelled and he was able to accommodate me by the following week as well. I ended up applying ppf for the front bumper, side areas highlighted below and a part of the rear fender. Side edges was aligned with the body line and they dont stand out. I was extremely happy with the overall service and will be using him for all of my future needs.

Break-in service #1

GM recommends two break-in services for ZL1 (engine oil flush at 500 miles and engine & differential oil flush at 1500 miles) and I was slightly above 500 miles after Team BHP meet. I scheduled my service right after the meet and it was completed right after my PPF installation.

Weekend drive

Weather was really good last weekend and i wanted to make use of it. I was thinking about exploring the roads around AnnArbor area for a while and this is was the prefect time as my family was still in India. I wanted to try out Car and Driver magazine's test route which was reported in a few forums couple of years ago and this route was also an option for our last Team BHP meet.

Overall trip was around 250 miles and the roads might have been one of the best in have driven in the area. It had plenty of tight curves with elevation changes and long sweepers. Being a sunday afternoon, there was hardly any traffic and i saw several motorcycle groups & sports cars along the way. Few members have been proposing a Detroit Team BHP meet and i would be highly recommending this route.

I have had the vehicle for two weekends post delivery and odometer has already clocked 800 miles. This will not be a garage queen and will be using it to the fullest whenever i have a chance.

[dreamseller]

Originally Posted by vj123

[center]

2023 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Just bumped onto this thread - late to the party but Hearty congratulations on this beast, vj123! Love how understated this looks (relative to the sheer amount of power that it hides under the hood).

I moved to Michigan last summer and I'm warming up to the lovely American 4-wheeled beauties around (as I am to bourbon, among other things American ). Will keep a keen eye at your ownership thread to inspire myself to go with a heart-led decision as well, and hope to see this in-person soon.

Cheers,
Sourav

[vj123]

Originally Posted by dreamseller

Hearty congratulations on this beast, vj123!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by dreamseller

Love how understated this looks (relative to the sheer amount of power that it hides under the hood).

I like it being a sleeper as its not recognized by most people until they hear the exhaust note.

Originally Posted by dreamseller

I moved to Michigan last summer and I'm warming up to the lovely American 4-wheeled beauties around (as I am to bourbon, among other things American ).

Welcome to the area and which part of MI are you located.

Originally Posted by dreamseller

Will keep a keen eye at your ownership thread to inspire myself to go with a heart-led decision as well, and hope to see this in-person soon.

We have regular meets and post the details in this thread (LINK (USA - The Rust Belt States Meetup)). We had out spring meet few months ago and have a trip planned to Tail of the Dragon next month. Looking forward to meet you in the future events.

[dreamseller]

Originally Posted by vj123

Welcome to the area and which part of MI are you located.

I'm currently based in Troy. Assuming you're near Ann Arbor?

Originally Posted by vj123

We have regular meets and post the details in this thread (LINK (USA - The Rust Belt States Meetup)). We had out spring meet few months ago and have a trip planned to Tail of the Dragon next month. Looking forward to meet you in the future events.

Great! I'll keep an eye on that thread. Look forward to catching up with you, and other members, on one of the events. Nothing better than ogling at beautiful cars, and driving around curves

[vj123]

Originally Posted by dreamseller

I'm currently based in Troy. Assuming you're near Ann Arbor?

I live in Macomb and we have a couple of members in Troy as well.

[vj123]

Team BHP meet - Tail of the Dragon

Duration: 4 days
Fuel cost: $450.13
Fuel consumed: 92.8 gallons (351.2 liters)
Distance covered: 1756.7 miles (2827.1 kilometers)
Fuel consumption in mpg: 21.3 (best), 17.8 (average), 11.1 (worst)

Link to the detailed meetup report - LINK (USA - The Rust Belt States Meetup)

Last month, i took the ZL1 to Team BHP meet at Tail of the Dragon and it was a blast. Prior to the trip, i completed the second break in service at 1500 miles and replaced engine oil & rear differential oil. I was able to cover the 9 hour stretch between Michigan and North Carolina (sans food and fuel stops) with an ease. It was a comfortable GrandTourer and the features which stood out during the highway cruise, other than the power delivery, were Magnetic ride suspension and Recaro seats. I had to get used to the Alcantara material in the seats which was warmer than a typical leather seat but the cooled seats took care of that issue.

Sport and Track modes brought in significant difference in power delivery, throttle response, suspension travel and ZL1 tackled those mountain roads like a champ. Once warmed up, Goodyear Eagle F1 tires offered plenty of grip in the corners and it gave immense confidence in pushing the vehicle along those curves. At the end of the drive, wheels were covered with brake dust and Brembos did the job except one instance where i misjudged a sharp curve. I wish it came with carbon ceramics which would have held better during those sprinted drives. I enjoyed "Performance Shifter" feature the most during those sprinted mountain drives. This feature is activated based on acceleration, braking and cornering inputs which prevents transmission upshifts and also open all exhaust valves bringing in plenty of pops & crackles with the Supercharger whine.

As i spend more time with the vehicle, i can understand the reason behind the rave reviews about this vehicle as it excels in day to day driving as well as track duties. I covered these roads in my G80 M3 last year and would pick the ZL1 over the M3 anyday without any second thoughts.

[vj123]

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Recently, I helped a good friend in acquiring his Shelby GT500 and compiling a short comparison as its cross shopped by most Camaro ZL1 / ZLE buyers. It was a 7 hour drive from the dealership and I drove the GT500 for 4 hours during this journey back home.

His requirement was pretty straightforward, low miles with clean history and well equipped with options (except Carbon Fiber Track Package). Recaro seat option was a must and he was open to most exterior colors except black. We reached out to 6 dealers in the Midwest & East coast (located between Michigan and Florida) and a few of them were either unwilling to negotiate through phone or had unreasonable asking price with mandatory addons. After initial negotiations, we reached out to the final list of dealers and one of them were pretty straight forward from the beginning. Our sales person provided additional pictures & videos immediately and was upfront with their numbers which was reasonable considering the vehicle condition. It had detailed service history and my friend crossed verified the information with the local Ford dealer as well. Since everything was clean, he didn’t want to perform additional pre purchase inspection and finalized the deal the next morning. We picked it up by the following weekend and the dealership experience was outstanding. While picking up the vehicle, we noticed that the vehicle had full ppf on all high impact areas which was added bonus as well.

Exterior: GT500 has terrific road presence with aggressive looks and I can keep adding adjectives to it. I was skeptical about this particular build spec looking at pictures in the dealer listing but it looks amazing in person especially with black bits on the white exterior. Most GT500s I have seen in the past have had bright exterior colors but this spec is classy without body stripes. In contrast, ZL1 exterior is a more muscular with sharp body lines and the overall look is muted especially with black exterior.

Interior: Ford could have done a better job with GT500's interior. Cabin material looks and feels basic on a car which creeps into 6 digit OTD price. Infotainment screen is outdated and the position of control knobs were clumsy. Visibility in GT500 was slightly better than the ZL1 but it didn’t have any significant difference. ZL1's interior feels more classy and well engineered especially with better cabin materials. I also prefer ZL1's display cluster with physical dials over the digital one in GT500.

Powertrain: GT500's V8 is a powerhouse and feels like a perfect package with the DCT. Power delivery is linear and the shifts are violent during aggressive driving. It wouldn’t be a good choice for someone who would drive the vehicle regularly in stop & go traffic as it was very jerky at low speeds. One could hardly hear any supercharger sound on the GT500 and this might be a simple fix with an aftermarket intake. LT4 in the ZL1 is very capable and the 10 speed transmission makes the whole experience to be less dramatic, even though the shifts are extremely quick.

Driving experience: DCT with the aggressive exhaust note makes the driving experience on a GT500 to be more hardcore. Even though ZL1 has the perfect supercharger while, the exhaust is muted (compared to the GT500) during normal driving but opens up drastically with plenty of pops & crackles when pushed around. ZL1's Magnetic ride control suspension is much superior and masks the vehicle weight unlike the GT500. Both cars have similar Brembo brake hardware and they do the job. Steering wheel is much thinner and smaller on the ZL1 which I prefer. Even though both cars have Recaros, I was really uncomfortable and had pain in the lower back & shoulders after driving the GT500 for 4 hours whereas I did several 9 hour drives on the ZL1 with absolutely no issues and the cooled seats were really helpful as well.

Closing thoughts: Both of these vehicles have very distinctive characters and might target different customers. Whole package in the GT500 is pretty aggressive whereas ZL1 is comparatively sedate until its driven hard. ZL1 takes a significant lead in overall fun to value ratio due to lower MSRP. At the end, one cannot go wrong with either of these and I am glad that we live in this age to enjoy these engineering masterpieces.

Delivery





GT500









GT500 and ZL1

[nikhilarni]

Originally Posted by vj123

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Interior: Ford could have done a better job with GT500's interior.

Loved reading a very unbiased comparison of the two muscle cars. The stallion is in immaculate condition . Congratulations to your buddy.

We hope to see this horse on the next meetup.

Do post some pics of the interiors of both cars ( side by side types )

[Mr.Ogre]

Thanks for the review. A Ford Mustang V8 with a manual gearbox is at the top of my next car list.

Couple of my friends here own a Mustang but none with a manual.

However, having driven them Mustang with the DCT is plenty fun and I think it is a lot of car for the price you pay, especially in Sydney.

[vj123]

Originally Posted by nikhilarni

Loved reading a very unbiased comparison of the two muscle cars. The stallion is in immaculate condition . Congratulations to your buddy.

We hope to see this horse on the next meetup.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the comparison. With limited options in the market, this vehicle was a great pick and hope he makes it to our next meet.

Originally Posted by nikhilarni

Do post some pics of the interiors of both cars ( side by side types )

Will click some pictures when we meet the next time.

Originally Posted by Mr.Ogre

Thanks for the review. A Ford Mustang V8 with a manual gearbox is at the top of my next car list.

You are welcome. With Challenger going out of production and Camaro production ending soon, Mustang will be the only American muscle coupe with that combination beginning next year. Hope you end up buying one soon.

Originally Posted by Mr.Ogre

However, having driven them Mustang with the DCT is plenty fun and I think it is a lot of car for the price you pay, especially in Sydney.

Only GT500 comes with the DCT, all other Mustangs have the regular 10 speed transmission.